FIG. 1 illustrates a currently-used substrate treating apparatus provided with an indexer 103, a processor 105, and an interface 107. Moreover, the processor 105 includes an application processing block B101 and a developing processing block B102. The application processing block B101 forms a coating film, such as a resist film, on a substrate W. The developing processing block B102 develops the substrate W. The processing blocks B101 and B102 each include a single substrate transport mechanism with arms for holding the substrate W, and various types of processing units. See, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3337677, Japanese Patent Publications No. 2012-033863A and 2006-216614A.
The indexer 103 feeds out the substrate W to be processed in the processing blocks B101 and B102. The indexer 103 includes a mount table 109, and an indexer transport mechanism (not shown). The mount table 109 holds a carrier C accommodating a plurality of substrates W. The indexer transport mechanism ejects the substrate W from the carrier C and places the substrate W into the carrier C. The processing blocks B101 and B102 each can perform either transfer or receipt of the substrate W to or from an external apparatus EXP, such as an exposure apparatus, via the interface 107.
The processor 105 of the substrate treating apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 has a laminated structure whose lower layer corresponds to the application processing block B101 and whose upper layer corresponds to the developing processing block B102. The substrate W from the carrier C of the indexer 103 is fed out through the application processing block B101 and the interface 107, in this order, to the exposure apparatus EXP as the external apparatus. The exposure apparatus EXP performs exposure processing to the substrate W. The substrate W subjected to the exposure processing is fed back through the interface 107 and the developing processing block B102, in this order, to the indexer 103 by which the substrate W is placed into the carrier C. That is, the substrate W is transported in the processing blocks B101 and B102 each in one direction so as to circulate within the substrate treating apparatus.